Veteran educator to retire from Howell school district
BY TOYNETT HALL Staff Writer

HOWELL - After 30 years in education and nine with the Howell School District, Susan Vonsover, the assistant superintendent for pupil services, is retiring.

Although Vonsover said it will be hard for her to leave, she said she is ready to embark on new tasks and she wants a new wave of educators to come in and finish the job she has started.

Vonsover's interest in education began with her innate desire to help people learn how to read.

The Howell High School graduate followed that desire and earned a bachelor's degree from the University of Bridgeport, Conn., and a master's degree in learning disabilities and school administration from Northwestern University, Evanston, Ill.

In 1980 Vonsover moved back to New Jersey and began her career in the Shrewsbury Borough schools. With her wheels always in motion, Vonsover left Shrewsbury to serve as a learning disability consultant and the director of special education for the Freehold Borough School District.

She moved on to work in the Manalapan Englishtown Regional School District as the director of pupil personnel services. She called her experience in Manalapan- Englishtown the springboard that prepared her for her administration position in Howell.

"I honed my skills in Manalapan," Vonsover said, noting that her career came full circle when she returned to work in the community where she grew up.

As the assistant superintendent for pupil services, Vonsover was in charge of creating and providing programs and services in the K-8 school district other than regular education curriculum.

Those programs and services include nurses; guidance counselors; all of the auxiliary services for students such as speech, occupational therapy, physical therapy, child study teams, psychologists, social workers and learning consultants; and developing programs for students with learning differences.

As part of her job Vonsover worked to keep students with special needs at home in the Howell School District.

"We have one of the lowest rates in New Jersey for having students sent out of district for programs. My philosophy has been to try and bring the services into the district," she said.

In addition to developing programs for students with behavioral disorders, developing a strong autistic division and hiring a head nurse, Vonsover said her greatest accomplishment has been connecting with the district's employees.

"I think in a big district, where there are 13 schools, my greatest accomplishment is connecting with all of the staff members. I feel that when I go out into the schools I have a relationship with all of them. They know I am here for the children and they can ask me anything," she said.

"I feel like I could walk into any school and the teachers and the staff know me. In a big school district where there could be anonymity, I have not allowed there to be anonymity on my part. It makes me happy to leave in that way," Vonsover said.

The veteran educator thinks this is the right time to bid farewell to Howell.

"I want to leave when I feel like I am in a good place in my career. I want to take this time to concentrate a little bit on myself and use my skills to do other things," she said.

Vonsover plans to pursue an advanced degree in adult literacy and English as a Second Language at Columbia University.

"I am planning on using my learning disability expertise and working with adults. I think that is a good next step after working all these years with children," she said.

Superintendent of Schools Enid Golden said Vonsover will be missed and called her retirement bittersweet.

"She has done an excellent job and has kept up with the tradition of educating children within the district as oppose to sending them out of district to private schools. It is going to be very hard to fill her position," Golden said.

Vonsover expects to leave Howell in February. She said she will help a new administrator become acclimated with the position.